Joe Don Baker, ‘Walking Tall’ actor, dead at 89

Actor Joe Don Baker, who starred as a crusading Tennessee sheriff in the 1973 film “Walking Tall,” died on May 7, his family announced. He was 89.

Baker, who also had roles in three films from the James Bond franchise, was best known for his role as Sheriff Buford Pusser in “Walking Tall.”In the film, Baker carried an oversized, homemade baseball bat to mete out justice and ferret out corruption in a small Tennessee county.

Baker once compared Pusser -- a real person who was elected sheriff of McNairy County in 1964 -- to “Hercules, a Zeus or something, he was incredible.”

“In those days in the early ’70s, I think a lot of people wanted to take a stick to Nixon and all those Watergate guys,” Baker said in an interview from the mid-1990s. “Walking Tall” “touched a vigilante nerve in everybody who would like to do in the bad guys but don’t have the power and would get in trouble if (they) did. But Buford was able to pull it off.”

After his election, the real-life Pusser began cleaning up the southwestern Tennessee county of gambling, moonshine and prostitution. There were at least seven attempts on Pusser’s life, including an Aug. 12, 1967, attack when bullets sprayed his vehicle. His wife, Pauline, was killed in the ambush.

Pusser was killed in a traffic accident on Aug. 21, 1974, hours after he had agreed to star in a sequel to “Walking Tall.”

After “Walking Tall,” Baker appeared as a violent but honest police officer in “Mitchell” (1975).

In the three James Bond films, Baker played a villain in The Living Daylights (1987), and then returned as a good-guy CIA agent in “GoldenEye” (1995) and “Tomorrow Never Dies” (1997).

Baker’s movie credits also included roles in “The Natural” (1984), “Fletch” (1985), “Leonard Part 6″ (1987), “Cape Fear” (1991), “Reality Bites” (1994), “The Grass Harp” (1995), “Mars Attacks!” (1996), “Joe Dirt” (2001), “The Dukes of Hazzard” (2005) and “Mud” (2012). According to his obituary, Baker appeared in 57 films until he retired in 2012.

Baker was born on Feb. 12, 1936, in Texas. He grew up in Groesbeck, a small town east of Waco, and attended Groesbeck High School, where he excelled in football and basketball. Baker won a scholarship to North Texas State (now the University of North Texas) and graduated in 1958 with a bachelor’s degree in business. In 1994, he received a Distinguished Alumni award from his alma mater.

“Joe Don was a beacon of kindness and generosity,” his obituary stated. “Throughout his life, Joe Don touched many lives with his warmth and compassion, leaving an indelible mark on everyone fortunate enough to know him.”

A funeral service will be held on May 20 in Mission Hills, California.

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